152
Christ’s Object Lessons
himself. “Have patience with me,” he said, “and I will pay thee all.”
So there are many who hope by their own works to merit God’s fa-
vor. They do not realize their helplessness. They do not accept the
[246]
grace of God as a free gift, but are trying to build themselves up in
self-righteousness. Their own hearts are not broken and humbled on
account of sin, and they are exacting and unforgiving toward others.
Their
[247]
own sins against God, compared with their brother’s sins against them,
are as ten thousand talents to one hundred pence—nearly one million
to one; yet they dare to be unforgiving.
In the parable the Lord summoned the unmerciful debtor, and “said
unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because
thou desiredst me; shouldest not thou also have had compassion on
thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth,
and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due
unto him.” “So likewise,” said Jesus, “shall My Heavenly Father do
also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother
their trespasses.” He who refuses to forgive is thereby casting away
his own hope of pardon.
But the teaching of this parable should not be misapplied. God’s
forgiveness toward us lessens in no wise our duty to obey Him. So the
spirit of forgiveness toward our fellow men does not lessen the claim
of just obligation. In the prayer which Christ taught His disciples He
said, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
Matthew 6:12
.
By this He did not mean that in order to be forgiven our sins we must
not require our just dues from our debtors. If they cannot pay, even
though this may be the result of unwise management, they are not to
be cast into prison, oppressed, or even treated harshly; but the parable
does not teach us to encourage indolence. The word of God declares
that if a man will not work, neither shall he eat. (
2 Thessalonians 3:10
.)
The Lord does not require the hard-working man to support others in
idleness. With many there is a waste of time, a lack of effort, which
brings to poverty and want. If these faults are not corrected by those
who indulge them, all that might be done in their behalf would be like
putting treasure into a bag with holes. Yet there is an unavoidable
poverty, and we are to manifest tenderness and compassion toward
those who are unfortunate. We should treat others just as we ourselves,
[248]
in like circumstances, would wish to be treated.